


Jack of All Trades

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 20:02:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5177882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Jack was going to survive out in space on his own, he was going to have to learn how to do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jack of All Trades

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boywonder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boywonder/gifts).



Running away from everyone that knew Jack had been born into a girl's body had been a good idea at the time. It had been utterly ridiculous that he had to conform to what they wanted for him at the orphanage. As if they cared about what he wanted; they just wanted to shuttle the kids out the door faster than they came in if possible, and there were far too many orphans on the mining colony for anyone's comfort. He was sure that no one would care about his running away, or even remark on it. Even if someone did – credits were credits, and each mouthful was guaranteed a government stipend – then the missing persons data would list Jacqueline instead of Jack. People were generally stupid and saw what they expected to see. If Jack finally dressed and acted the way he wanted to, they would accept him for who he really was, and not for the unnecessary bleeding holes his body had.

How was he supposed to know that they would all crash land on a planet that was out to kill them all?

If Riddick hadn't been there, they all would have died. It was too bad about Carolyn, and that felt like a wound that would forever be sore. She had believed in Riddick even when Jack had started to lose his faith, and she had never looked down on Jack for bleeding and attracting those demons' attention. Stupid fucking body. Carolyn kept her promise to go back for Riddick, kept up hope that they could survive it. And somehow she didn't, as if their lives had to be bought and paid for with her own. It wasn't fair, not in the slightest, another injustice the universe had to sling at Jack.

He ran away again when the Imam wanted to push him to be a girl. Riddick was gone, pretending to be dead so he could go off grid. Jack could follow that example, could pretend that he didn't wake every night afraid that the demons had found him, that the darkness would never lift, that the keening sound of those creatures meant he was about to die.

It wasn't hard to hide in plain sight on transport planets, picking pockets and digging into the trash for food. He tried to think of what Riddick would do in a given situation, tried to be as brave as he was. And when his traitorous body continued _changing,_ he bound his chest and plugged it up and tried to keep on going. Jack wasn't about to bend to biology or what others thought he should do. He hadn't figured out his own life, but he would be damned to let total strangers do it for him.

The first kill was almost too easy, and Jack wondered what Riddick would say if he knew about it. Would he be proud of Jack? Would he criticize how he executed the kill? It had been another homeless slag thinking Jack was easy prey, and it was a question of the slag or Jack. No contest, then. Jack hadn't even felt pity for the bleeding sack of dead meat on the ground, and only felt disappointment that the slag's pockets were empty.

Sneaking onto a trade ship soon afterward got him off world again and heading toward a bigger transport station. Unfortunately, one of the mercs found him in the cargo hold skulking around and beat him nearly within an inch of his life. The binding on his stupid chest came loose a bit, and suddenly the merc changed his tune. Jack was able to stay on board for a price. If the asshole was going to get caught up by the body shape, then Jack was going to make sure he got something useful out of it. Jack could close his eyes when the stupid merc felt him up or fucked his holes, as long as he got training with hand to hand and weapons. Sometimes he could close his eyes and pretend it was Riddick fucking him, or if Jack fucked his own hand he imagined it to be Riddick's. Not that he really wanted Riddick that way, but because that would be preferable to the stupid merc riding his ass.

But Jack learned fast and was motivated to pick everyone's brains. The hand to hand was a bit tough to learn at first, though weapons were ridiculously easy. He also learned more about piloting and navigation, and ignored the whispers from the other mercs of the crew. He didn't give a shit, as long as he was learning what he needed to know.

The idiots needed a name and didn't believe him when he said Jack. "You look like a Kyra," the first idiot merc had said, so Jack shrugged and accepted the name. They wanted him to dress like a girl, showing off tits and ass and growing out his hair. Assholes. But it was like a costume, one that got him what he wanted from them.

And when he was done with them, he slit their throats, took their weapons, and ran like hell.

Finding Riddick again was going to be next to impossible; he was invisible if he didn't want to be found. But Jack was learning the lingo that mercs had, and the chatter on comms was a whole other language for him to listen in on. He got himself on a team that was convinced they found Riddick's latest hiding place, sure that it was just talk and that they would be another team of losers that he would have to ghost.

But surprise, surprise, this team actually got it right.

Before they could actually get the drop on Riddick in his hiding place, Jack opened fire and shot them all in a hail of bullets. He blinked in surprise as Riddick swung a shiv that came up to his throat, no change in his expression at all.

"So what's the bounty on my head?" Riddick asked, his voice still a low growl.

"Don't know and don't care."

The shiv at Jack's throat didn't waver at all. "And why is that?"

"I was looking for you, Riddick. I couldn't find you on my own, so I needed these slags to do it for me." Jack smiled at the heavily muscled killer in front of him. "I guess you don't remember me, but I remember you. You saved my life."

"I remember you, Jack," Riddick replied. There was no inflection in his tone, nothing to tell Jack if he was pleased to see him again or not.

"And?" Jack prompted when Riddick didn't say anything else.

"And what?"

"I can stay with you, can't I?" Jack asked.

"Now why would you want to do that?" Now Riddick sounded lazy, as if he couldn't be bothered with Jack at all.

"Because you're a survivor. I've done what I have to do to survive, but I know I can do better than that. If you teach me, then no one will fuck with me just because they can."

"So what can you do?"

"I can fight some. Shoot. Slice up a slag. Steal. Hunt through a system deck. Navigate and pilot a cruiser." Jack let his chin jut out with pride, not caring if Riddick's shiv cut into his skin a bit.

"What do you need me for?" Riddick asked, amused. "Sounds like you got it under control."

"Plenty of mercs out there think my body's fair trade for learning that," Jack replied, not even bothering to hide his contempt. "I need to be better so that won't happen again."

"Things are rough on a girl alone in space."

"I'm not a girl," Jack hissed, eyes flashing with anger. "Don't make the same mistake they did."

"Maybe you don't think you are one," Riddick conceded, "but _they_ do."

"We know the truth."

"Do we? Truth is such a changeable thing. Like how I was supposed to be dead."

"That bought you time. At least a year or two," Jack replied.

"You've been doing your homework," Riddick said, shifting and removing the shiv from Jack's throat. "Maybe you should've been in school. Stayed with the holy man."

"Fuck no," Jack returned. It was the same enthusiasm he had shown for mimicking Riddick on that hellhole planet, and it triggered the killer to smile a little. It was a ghost of a smile, just an uptick at the corners of his mouth. "This is who I am. This is where I belong. I know it, and you can't just scare me off."

Riddick gave him a long look, but he stood up to the scrutiny without squirming. "It ain't easy, it ain't pretty, and people would gut you for the gun in your hand."

"I'd like to see 'em try," Jack challenged, lips curling in disgust. "I've killed every bastard that thought they could get the drop on me."

"Yeah? So how many does that make?"

"Close to thirty by now." It wasn't even a lie, which made Jack feel that much prouder.

Pursing his lips a little, Riddick eyed Jack closely. "So are we gonna play the game of who's the better killer?"

Jack just grinned maniacally at him. "Oh, you are right now without question. But one day, I'll be just as good as you. Or even better if I live that long."

Riddick nodded abruptly. "C'mon, then. Time to start building you a reputation."

Beaming, Jack followed Riddick.

The End.


End file.
